Another voice: “The Host”

George Filieau of North Greenbush becomes our second citizen critic in a week with this rave for “The Host”:

THANK YOU, Bong Joon-ho for making the kind of monster/horror flick that no one else seems to be able to make anymore! Maybe, just maybe, Hollywood can LEARN and bring creativity back to the genre, and stop remaking (and ruining) Asian horror movies or tossing buckets of blood and body parts at the camera!

For a horror/monster movie fan sick (literally) of garbage like the “Saw” series and “The Hills Have Eyes 2,” “The Host” is like an oasis in a desert of ideas. Bong’s creature is believable, grotesque and scary, and he ignores today’s “gore-or” movie fans’ lust for blood and gore, showing only as much as the story requires. The story, Hollywood. Do you remember the story? Yes, even horror movies need a story… and Bong has THAT too!

Oh, this film is just tons of fun, exciting and entertaining and sad and funny, with no pat plot or “the world is safe forever” ending, and a protagonist who is a slacker. There is political satire, too, and a wry smile in even the title chosen for the film.

Yes, the premise is silly, but that is in the nature of monster movies. Forget the science, and go along for one hell of a ride!

Please, God, let this movie not be an island of quality in the vast ocean of blood! Let this be the NEW (old) style horror film with a brain and a heart and heebie-jeebies galore!

Having always stated my love of old time horror and monster movies, I can state with a clear conscience: Best Movie I Have Seen in 2007 so far! Not perfect, not a 10, no, but considering the dearth of quality films in this genre in this entire century, I will take it whether it comes from South Korea or Mars!

Casey Seiler

Comments are closed.

Note: The Times Union is not responsible for posts and comments written by non-staff members.